Browse the Archive

Explore W.E.B. Du Bois’s writings from The Crisis by theme, person, place, decade, or year

Explore W.E.B. Du Bois’s 700+ articles from The Crisis magazine organized by theme, person, place, or time period.

By Theme

Du Bois returned to the same interlocking problems month after month across twenty-four years. These thematic pages collect his editorials by subject and trace how his arguments evolved.

The System

  • The Color Line (144 articles) — Segregation, Jim Crow, social equality, and the paradox that ended his editorship
  • The Mob (134 articles) — Lynching, mob violence, legal injustice, and armed self-defense
  • The South (90 articles) — Southern governance, the press, migration

The Fight

  • Voting & Elections (131 articles) — Disfranchisement, party strategy, Black women voters
  • Internal Debate (72 articles) — Accommodationism, Garvey, NAACP methods
  • The Mission (51 articles) — Building the NAACP, organizational strategy

The Structures

  • Labor & Economics (111 articles) — Union exclusion, cooperativism, communism
  • Education (78 articles) — Funding disparities, industrial vs. liberal arts, philanthropic control

The World

The Soul

The Artist

  • Art & Culture (61 articles) — Harlem Renaissance, “All Art is propaganda,” Black institutions
  • Literary Writing (36 articles) — Fiction, poetry, satire, allegory, prose poetry

By People

Browse articles discussing specific historical figures:

U.S. Presidents & Politicians

Racist Politicians

Black Leaders & Intellectuals

View all people browse pages →

By Place

Browse articles by geographic focus:

United States

U.S. States

U.S. Cities

International

View all place browse pages →

By Decade

1910s: The Founding Years

The Crisis is launched. Du Bois establishes his voice on segregation, voting rights, and the NAACP’s mission during a period of intense racial violence and World War I.

Key themes: Founding the NAACP, anti-lynching campaigns, WWI and the Great Migration

1920s: Post-War & Renaissance

The Jazz Age and Harlem Renaissance. Du Bois writes on the “New Negro,” Pan-Africanism, and the contradictions of American democracy.

Key themes: Pan-African Congresses, Harlem Renaissance, Marcus Garvey, political disillusionment

1930-1934: Depression Era

Du Bois’s final years at The Crisis. Economic crisis reshapes debates over segregation, self-help, and the role of organized labor.

Key themes: Great Depression, economic justice, debates on segregation

Other Ways to Explore